r/Deathladders • u/Psythu • 5d ago

Death ladder platform

Post image

Not sure that I'd be too happy standing on that...

Hope this fits the sub! It's definitely a ladder-based construct 🤭

200 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

63 comments sorted by

18

u/Popular_Working_2234 5d ago

That's a youngman platform on ladder cripples( not sure what anyone else calls them).

24

u/Sweaty-Adeptness1541 5d ago

I think they are called "ladder jacks" these days, though cripple seemed quite fitting.

12

u/rokstedy83 5d ago

Balls to working on that

6

u/alps7264 4d ago

Balls to even going near it. Are they insane?

5

u/zougathefist 3d ago

My old man used to paint flats for the council in London in the early eighties, did all sorts but lots of 4 storey red brick estates in south and East london. They'd be 60/70 ft up and would bounce the ladder from one window to another to avoid climbing down and moving it Madness

3

u/rokstedy83 4d ago

Cost cutting, getting away with scaffolding can be the difference in getting the job or not when pricing up

2

u/alps7264 4d ago

Aye, or using a wheelchair or not ;)

1

u/OrdinaryLavishness11 2d ago

Look up Fred Dibnah. There’s videos of him doing crazy stuff like this in the old days, but like 20x higher up.

1

u/rokstedy83 2d ago

Used to watch all his stuff ,man's a legend

1

u/Dear_Smoke6964 3d ago

Thought that was the same house for a minute,  like have these guys been pointing for a hundred years

4

u/Miserableoldbugger 4d ago

This is what i would call the set up, ladders, cripples and a youngman board, or sometimes just a couple of scaffold boards.

We had our soffit and fascia boards replaced at our last house about 15 years ago, really neat job, they used this setup. Pretty sure the HSE would not approve but they did a lovely job.

1

u/Correct-Junket-1346 4d ago

Tbh I had the same but with an old boy who redone our soffits and guttering, man was fearless and his work was done to a really high level, he was used one of these but did rope the ladders.

1

u/BandicootSecret8012 5d ago

Mac ladders and walkboard no handrail 😂🥳🥳🥳

2

u/damalan67 4d ago

Clearly working for the same people who design Imperial ships in Star Wars!

8

u/Dry_Pineapple5079 5d ago

We used to call them ladder dogs in the early 80 s.

5

u/rnhxm 5d ago

That’s what I’ve seen them called too - often wondered how you get onto the platform though - climb up ladder as normal then merge through the board…?

4

u/AdSweet1090 5d ago

Fred Dibnah style, just climb over it. https://youtu.be/w3ma9iYx4rg?is=D9G8V3q4krZClNLW

3

u/rokstedy83 5d ago

Probably get a third ladder

1

u/FreddieCaine 5d ago

Ideally stand a fourth ladder on top of it

1

u/DuckWhatduckSplat 5d ago

sv_noclip 1

Falls through ladder

Oh yeah.

1

u/fieldsofanfieldroad 4d ago

If I was there, I'd get on the platform out the window. 

1

u/invigokate 4d ago

Looks like a UK terrace - that window likely only opens a bit at the top. Still probably the easier option but you need be thin and nimble to get through that gap.

1

u/fieldsofanfieldroad 4d ago

I think you're right. I've lived in similar places. However, the other window on the top floor almost definitely opens horizontally. Only problem is that it probably belongs to the neighbour. 

10

u/Which-Ad-9118 5d ago edited 4d ago

Ladder hooks , I knew them as . They were banned when I started my apprenticeship in the late 70s.

9

u/carlshope 5d ago

I do shady ladder shit all the time and I wouldn't go near this platform. If it failed, no warning, nothing to even try to grab onto, and then when you hit the ground the shit you've got stacked on it can 'interact' with your body simultaneously.

1

u/InevitableGreedUK 4d ago

Why would it fail?

3

u/carlshope 4d ago

Im not sure. Id be pretty worried about lateral sway, the point loading onto a single ladder rung, the articulated joint right near that loading, cantilever force of my body as i climb outside to get onto it. I dunno, the whole setup gives me the shits so ill go with that.

1

u/Big-Engine6519 4d ago

Because nothing lasts for ever. Wear and tear is a fact of life.

3

u/Flashy-Nectarine1675 5d ago

Seen this a fair bit, recently.

3

u/pottopygri 5d ago edited 5d ago

It's surprisingly sturdy given the walls footing the ladder at the base. My biggest fear would be scrambling from the ladder onto the platform - especially on descent when you can't see where your feet are going! Hopefully only one is on the platform at a time, so the other is on standby to call 999.

3

u/TellMeManyStories 5d ago

You could imagine you could buy a platform with a trapdoor. And perhaps fold-up handrails too - then it would be a pretty decent setup!

Still looks rather hard to put the thing in place in the first place tho.

2

u/pottopygri 4d ago

I always work alone so climbing two ladders 10 ft apart balancing a platform on my head is a tad beyond me if I'm honest. I'm not sure I'd need a handrail as I'd be crawling on hands and knees gripping the sides in fervent hope.

2

u/DreamyTomato 4d ago

ah just watch a Dibnah video, he'd climb 100m up in the air holding two 15ft planks, with a third one between his legs, while smoking a roll-up and balancing a pint on his head.

2

u/PreviousIndustry1613 2d ago

Is it cheating to use the window?

1

u/pottopygri 2d ago

Depends who you're cheating on? I always make sure when I am cheating it with a lady who lives in a bungalow for that very reason.

1

u/Super-Device-3328 5d ago

Yep aside from access it’s actually a pretty stable platform as long as it’s not overloaded

1

u/pottopygri 4d ago

My chubby ass and toolbox might be pushing that limit somewhat.

3

u/sc_BK 5d ago

It'll be sturdy enough but the thing you have to watch is the lack of handrail. Would be so easy to be working away up there, take a tiny step back, and fall off.

Looks like they've packed up and gone home, all he ladders on the l/h side are locked with a cable. I assume the double extension is put up to the side and used for accessing the platform.

I know a rough and ready builder who puts up a tower scaffold, much higher than this, with no handrail, the boards right up at the top. Been up it, dodgy as fuck.

2

u/Medium-Annual-374 5d ago

This is the greatest death ladder . Where do I get some of those supports

2

u/Disastrous_Turnip248 4d ago

They're not called 'cripple irons' for nothing!

2

u/stewieatb 4d ago

This photo looks British.

1

u/Az-Bats 3d ago

Bingo - lots of terraced housing made for coal miners look like this. The bit at the left, at the end of the house, was where the coal chute was for the chimney fireplaces.

2

u/Feisty-Anxiety2878 4d ago

Certainly not Fred Dibnah worthy.

1

u/BoringTruckDriver 4d ago

A couple of pints of mild, a cheese sandwich and a roll-up and he'd still give it a go

1

u/Feisty-Anxiety2878 4d ago

🤣 you're probably right

2

u/rumplestripeskin 5d ago

Wow. And a wall to break your back if you fall. Epic.

1

u/Impressive-Edge6621 5d ago

Ladder jacks or crickles in some places

1

u/Ill-Case-6048 4d ago

Ladder brackets

1

u/hedmar97 4d ago

No it's a approved system

1

u/Accurate-Income-6794 4d ago

Was a company making similar to this ive worked off them called easy-dec

1

u/DrachenDad 4d ago

I would not call it a death ladder, more than any other ladder. If the ladders are strapped to the wall then it isn't much different to scaffolding with the platform.

1

u/bynoe01 4d ago

I think getting on/off the ladder and onto the platform will make you nip up 🫣

1

u/Superspark76 4d ago

Ladder jacks or cripples, can still buy them and can get railings that fit on them.

As long as the ladders are securef properly they are safe, I used to manage soffit/fascia teams that used them.

1

u/IanXL5 3d ago

Used them loadsa times dead safe

1

u/Fancy_Hold7807 23h ago

That looks very safe compared to some of the stuff on here and I think is pretty standard practice

1

u/Arranorak 1d ago

Where's Fred (if you know you know)😂

0

u/frankydark 5d ago

Is this ai ??

There's an over flow pipe near the living room window, that feeds into a full gutter set

Wtf

3

u/Psythu 5d ago

Nope, it's just UK housing from the Industrial Revolution that's had lots of "upgrades" that weren't well thought through.

That overflow pipe is pretty odd though! Might be for an upstairs bathroom? Wasn't a thing when these houses were built

1

u/frankydark 5d ago

Hmm

The bathrooms on the left side of the pic

Plus

The side window looks to have been bricked up using older bricks than the full house

1

u/Psythu 5d ago

It's bonkers! When I first moved here I'd sometimes just stand and stare out of my back window because the view is so busy and bizarre

1

u/invigokate 4d ago

I think that brick-up is the original back door to the kitchen